>> all right, as we've been telling you all night. at this hour president adolf junior ahmadinejad found himself in hot water, caught on camera engaging in a forbidden act. it was not run-of-the-mill typical gaffe that would bring down a politician in america. no, we're talking about engaging in an inappropriate relationship with, say, oh, i don't know, a white house

intern? no, it's nothing like that. it wasn't one of the good old-fashioned blago quid pro quo type of crimes, selling a seat in the iranian, and not with money in the freeze like our old congressman william jefferson. according to the country's clerics this was far more serious. what was the so-called forbidden act. it went down at the funeral of former venezuelan president hugo chavez, it was there he was snapped doing this, consoling the fallen tyrant's mother. cue the outrage. one cleric said no unrelated women can be touched unless she is drowning at sea or needs medical treatment. let me see, so, in other words, define u.n. sanctions, a nuclear bomb. providing material support to terrorists is okay, but this, that picture, tha hug, that consoling, that's off limits. that kind of explains a lot,

doesn't it? that's all the time we have left this evening. as always, thank you for being with us. let not your heart be troubled. the news continues, greta is next to go on the record. we'll see you back here tomorrow night. >> greta: tonight, washington is an absolute mess. >> we're headed to ruin. >> we know without a shred of doubt we are con signing the next generation to an inferior standard of living. >> we're headed to absolute financial collapse. we look at the budget and why balance is necessary. >> we will never be able to balance the budget if you keep obamacare going. because obamacare is a fiscal train wreck. >> if you take the budget the way the republicans in the house are presenting it, it will have a drag on the economy right now. >> you guys know you have a budget. we haven't had a budget in four years, what are you doing ripping this one to shreds? >> not since 1921 has a president failed to beat the

timetable to submit his proposed budget to the united states congress. >> the president will be putting forward a budget in the next several weeks, probably the week of april 8th. >> it is beyond tardy. >> i've been here a month and a half so interestingly, i honestly have not seen regular order since i've been here. it seems like that we're going from catastrophe to-- and this is really how the president operates. >> greta: and tonight, talk about nerve. the white house slamming congressman paul ryan's budget plan yet the white house hasn't bothered to put out its own budget. the law says that the president must submit a budget by the first part of february. and kelly ayotte. >> good to be with you. >> greta: and you're not responsible for the president, but are you curious? >> i'm very curious where it is. you think about it, i'm glad the senate democrats are finally going to do a budget in the senate, but basically he's rendered himself

irrelevant because his budget is apparently going to come after the house puts forth its budget, after the senate does its budget, and so, where is he on this issue? you'd think he would have a fiscal blueprint for the country. >> greta: now what i don't get? you're a lawyer, i'm a lawyer and maybe i'm too literal about it he's obligated to do it i think by the first monday in february. presidents before him have also failed and not the first time the president-- and he's failed a number of times. and when all of these presidents, the reason why we have the rules, we have some semblance of order. he said now the end of march and now we hear into april. what's the point of these rules and these laws? >> you know, greta, you're absolutely right. it's the law of the land. it's been ignored. ignored in the senate for almost four years. the house has done a budget and so you think these rules would mean something. they're there for a reason so as we're doing the budget markup, the president has actually presented his blueprint for the country so we're going to be going into the budget markup. i'm on the budget committee,

and we'll be doing it without his piece of it and frankly when he drops it, it will be irrelevant. >> greta: you say you're on the budget committee, but in fact you're a republican in a democratic dominated senate and that same thing happens in reverse in the the house. i take it that you have -- i mean, i would hope that the republicans would have some input, give and take and some semblance of bipartisanship. do the democrats by any participation by the republicans. i guess the question would be in reverse if you were in majority. >> one thing he we knwe know we going to give our opening statements. the thing, we won't get the democrat's budget until after we give our opening statement. which is absurd on its face. we will get their budget what they've released with the budget so far, trillion dollars in new taxes and won't balance in the ten year window and may in fact never balance and also, even though there's a trillion dollars in tax increases, it's not going to

fundamentally reform the mandatory programs, social security, medicare that are going bankrupt. so, you know, i'm waiting to see it. and we will have our chance to weigh in on it. we will have amendments to it, and certainly, we'll present our vision, which will be bringing us to balance in ten years like the house is going to do. >> greta: when you mention balance, president obama talked with george stephanopoulos, abc, my goal is not to chase a balanced budget for the sake of balance. >> i guess chasing a balanced budget for the sake of balance is not -- chase ago balanced budget because first of all, it makes sense, it's good for economic growth and getting jobs created in this country. if we continue to run the trillion dollar deficits each year, it hurts our economic growth, but also, i'm the mother of two children. what are we doing? what are we passing on to the next generation? we're spending their money. it's outrageous. >> greta: why do you think the

democrats have a vastly different view than republicans? >> i think they have a -- i think they have a view that if they keep spending and spending that government can solve every problem and we have a view that government has an important place, but that we believe that jobs are created in the private sector. let's create a great climate for private sector growth. a tax climate, the regulatory climate and let's get our fiscal house in in order and get with taxpayer dollars. >> greta: and you mentioned patty murray is going to release some stimulus element to the budget bill and one of the ways to pick up revenue doing it is closing loopholes. do you have a problems with closing loopholes. i think that doing tax reform would be positive for economic growth, but what they have put forward and to simplify the court and lower rates. to make our tax code easier to file and also make us more competitive also on the

corporate rate, but also a lot individual rate. what they're putting forth is additional trillion dollars in taxes, they haven't said how they'll do that and that's on top of the 600 billion dollars in revenue that came from the fiscal cliff. so, then you're 1.6 and then you put the obamacare taxes on top of it. you know, our businesses are struggling already. this has to hit the middle class and has to hit almost every average american. >> do they ever talk to you, democrats about -- is there a give and take? do you have budget means-- we sit down and talk about this or simply republicans in one corner and democrats in the other? >> we have meetings, bipartisan, where they're more informal and talking about the state of the country and how we can come together, but so far, the budget committee, you know, i'm glad that there is going to be a budget markup. i think that it's positive because they're not ignoring the law this year, but not-- we will have different visions

on how we make sure that we address the fiscal challenges facing the country and theirs doesn't involve a balancing at all. that doesn't seem important to them. i think people, the average american understands at home they have to balance their budgets. states have to balance their budget. so at some point you keep running the deficits how do you pay it back. >> greta: you run up the credit card eventually and bite you, you can't pay the interest on it. >> absolutely. >> greta: senator, nice to he see you. >> great to see you. and kevin mccarthy the g.o.p. balanced budget in ten years and senate democrats and house democrats budget never balances. congressman, nice to see you. >> thanks for having me. >> greta: i asked the question and respond about the president saying to george stephanopoulos, my goal is not to balance the budget for the sake of balancing the budget. how could he forgot the first

goal was to cut the deficit in half. now he doesn't care, he doesn't produce a budget. i bet you he spends more time filling out his march madness bracket than filling out the budget. >> greta: i think the staff filling out the budget in all fairness. i mean, i don't understand why -- i know that we have problems with continuing resolution and sequestration so there's some complexity to writing a budget, but if the house and senate can get a budget together in spite of all the stuff going on, why can't the president? >> there's no excuse. he came to the state of the union and laid out to the american public what he wanted to achieve. and that's doing a lot financially. how can he picture about wanting to achieve those if he didn't first put on paper what you can afford and what you can't. >> why doesn't he do that? what's he anything? i mean, just -- is it a gamemanship or more effective way to do it and be an executive? >> i think it's a philosophical belief he has, to take more from the taxpayer

a and-- >> he could make a budget and very well do that. >> you don't want to put on paper what his vision is because the american public would not support it if it's on paper. >> greta: is his vision vastly different from the senate budget committee? >> for the democrats? >> yes. >> i think it's going to be different, but the democrats are going to raise another trillion dollars. it will never balance. his will never balance. our balances in ten years, that's a fundamental difference. one important thing is balancing. another important thing is why do you balance? why do you balance? because you give your children a greater opportunity for freedom, and a greater opportunity to have growth in this country. and you will see jobs created more. you will see that you will not waste money on interest and you'll invest in america to actually put a new generation to work. >> greta: well, i'm just, i'm anxious to see his budget as i talked with senator ayotte, and disturbing that the deadline-- >> does he think he's above the law. >> greta: he's not the first and he's done it before and everybody else, apparently,

apparently it's -- i mean, nobody has much record for it from who is residing in the white house. >> i think it's a key responsibility of any elected official first to do a budget. >> greta: i don't disagree with you. >> i think he avoids it for political reasons, he's waiting until the house does theirs and passes it. the only reason the senate democrats are doing it now because we passed no budget no pay. and what did pelosi say about it? she disagreed with it. she didn't think it was dignified. i think it's not dignified if you don't do your job. >> greta: i think it's terrible that we have a pass gimmicks or whatever you want to call it to get them to do the jobs we elected them for. >> you wonder why washington is broken. washington is a mess, do you agree. >> it is. >> greta: and let me ask you about the ryan plan. he would eliminate medicaid expansion, so i'm curious, what happens to the poor people who are part of in medicaid expansion? because they're going to show up at hospitals and someone is going to have to pay the cost of it. is it the local hospital that's got to pay for it. if you eliminate medicaid

expansion that's the federal government or the states in conjunction paying for medicare. >> wait, wait, he sends it to the state and gives greater flexibility. pilot in the state. programs and deliver it sooner. you talk to governors, even democrats, they'll agree with-- >> so when you say eliminate medicaid expansion, but you will give them grants to do it themselves? >> let's not use the word eliminate. because the one thing that the budget does not do -- what ryan does overall is, instead of growing government at 5%, he does it at 3.4. why? because our economy is not growing at 5%. he makes you not spend more than what you bring in. what he does is make the program more efficient. so he takes it to the lower level and puts it into the states that allows them the flexibility. and that's a difference. the other thing is, you move the economy in a different way, too, so more people are working, more people have a different opportunity. >> greta: all right, one of the other parts is under medicare, he would convert it to a subsidized private plan. what is that? >> it's-- you know what that is? that's getting health care

just like every congressional member of congress has. it gives you a choice. >> greta: i mean, you get some-- you get money from the government. those who couldn't afford it-- >> the very poorest, we're going to respect you, you believe now what's best about your health care, too, we're going to give you options just like people who are watching this channel have options which cable they want to get. which packages they want to buy. you get to set some and-- >> when you say subsidize, medicare right now, you can pay into it for a number of years and reach a certain age and get medicare. >> let's be true on what the budget does, if you want to stay on the current medicare system, you can. if you want a choice you can. for the very poorest we will give them more. we will put a system together that takes care of that safety net for those individuals, but if-- >> why do you think the democrats don't like that? >> i don't know. i mean, what we provide is gives greater options and

choices to individuals. many times i discuss with the democrats, it's philosophical. they think that the person would make a wrong choice. that the government would make the choice for you. >> greta: there's no catch or left services or pay more. there's no catch? >> you're going to have a greater option. and as a member of congress, if we all get a set amount of money, based upon we're working for government, right? then we get a whole list of insurance options and we can take the same amount and we go in and pick which one. you know what judy and i would do when we were younger we'd look for one that covered braces for our children. and now that we are older-- i know what's best for our family, my wife and i will make that decision. and why can't americans, why can't they decide what happens with their bodies and not the government. that's a difference that the

republicans and democrats have. i believe in the individual, i believe they're more efficient than governor. >> greta: congressman, nice to see you. >> thanks for having me. >> greta: do you think that president obama could have gotten his budget in on time? did he really have to miss that february 4th deadline or not? go to gretawire.com and give your opinion on the budget battle. if you thought it's bad that members voted for or against the 2800 page health care bill without reading it, wait until you hear this one. they're stacking up literally and no one who voted for or written even one page of that regulation. 828 pages, new regulations written by hhs workers, released in one day. that now brings the total to a staggering 20,000 plus pages and more regulations coming. does anyone really know what's in all of that paper work? lisa will join us. you worked for the senate minority leaders office and i took a picture next to the stack of regulations.

>> i'm 5-5, three inch heels. >> greta: and that's have been added on to the 2800 page bills. >> that's right, 20,000 pages up in the corner of the rotunda of the capitol. it's getting attention today. >> greta: did you see any congressmen didn't write that. >> no, they didn't. >> greta: you didn't see anybody reading those. >> no, they didn't. >> greta: who wrote the 20,000 pages of regulations added on to the 2800 page bill. >> that would be our regulators and to be honest, this would be the case with any bill and the way that the sausage is made and the stacks of paper going to be huge and nobody denies this is a big health care overhaul. >> greta: the problem i have we have elected officials and this is monumental health care. and the fact that people voted for something that they never read and it seems like, how do you know if it's good enough, if you haven't read it. on top of that now we have 20,000 pages of regulations tacked onto this bill by

people we didn't vote to, didn't read it. >> it does overhaul many, many parts of the health care system so they need today draft tons and tons of regulations in order to make it work. the good news, the people who deal with this are mainly insurance abbictuaries who are made to do this. >> greta: this stuff should be simple so people can understand it and people should read it who are responsible for it. >> right. >> greta: you would think. >> you would think and if people want to go read it they can. i certainly have to read it it in my job and it's hard to pick through. i think if people applied themselves they could read it. it's complicated. >> greta: any news on the mandate? >> we know what the penalties look like if you don't obey the mandate. starting next year $100. it's going to ramp up to $700 by 2016 so that's definitely a big increase over a couple of

years for people who aren't carrying health insurance. it's a big part of the new health care law. people are required to carry insurance. >> greta: if you're going to game the system you're better off not buying and mandate in the first year, $100 if you get caught that's the penalty. >> that's what people are saying it's not strong enough to induce people to enter the health care system in the first year and might be a rocky transition. a lot of people might choose to pay that $100 instead of buy insurance. >> greta: and of course, we have, i think, existing in this bill if you have a preexisting problem you can always get insurance today or tomorrow or the next day so you can go out and buy it so you don't have to worry about getting caught with the mandate? >> that's right. and the health care insurers say the president needs to make these penalties stronger to induce people into the system and everything looks okay. >> greta: the advantage if everyone is in it and pitching in and spending money, but a lot of organizations have got waivers so they're not in it.

>> we don't know yet. it's true there have been a lot of waivers, but wait and see until next year when most of the last provisions take effect and see whether or not the system works. really, there's so much that's going to ham. there's going to be so much in flux and we have to wait and see. >> greta: does anybody know what's going to happen? >> i don't think they do. i have no idea. >> greta: that's mystifying about this. we have a enormous bill, 20,000 pages of regulations and no nobody knows if it's going to impact or nobody knows the economic impact. >> and we have to remember, that image of a huge stack of regulations is going to be a welcomed sight. >> greta: to who? >> to people who supported it. >> greta: they don't know if it's going to be successful. how could it be possible, they haven't read it. >> they say it's good the government steps in and try and solve the problems. >> greta: this is the same federal government who has how many vacant buildings around the country.

and the one thing if the government was efficient and if you've been around town you might be be scared, with the waste that goes on. >> definitely a difference in perspective. >> greta: i hope it works out, but boy, it's terrifying when nobody's bothered to read it. anyway, probably the only person who will read the 20,000 pages, nice to see you. >> thanks, greta. >> greta: straight ahead if you pay a monthly phone call. you'll be steamed about this. do you know you're not only paying for your phone, but paying for phones for dead people. sounds crazy, but true. that's next. and also, a quote, sinful photo of iranian president ahmadinejad. he's in big trouble at home for this one. will this shocking photo end his political career? we'll show you. and why your tax refunds could be delayed for weeks. people are waiting for uncle sam to cut them a check, minutes from now.

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>> ready for this one? you're paying for local phones for dead people. how do you like that? probably not very much. according to arkansas congressman tim griffin, the government is sending free phones to dead relatives of his constituents. under a program, the government sends phones to low

income americans. the law didn't specifically say they have to be alive, but wouldn't you think someone in the government would figure this one out. congressman griffith joins us. >> thank you for having me. >> greta: okay, so we're really sending phones to dead people? >> well, this is truly a constituent-driven issue. i've got a lot of calls, letters, complaints, people saying, hey, my deceased father just got a free cell phone like this one, a little blackberry, and had people writing me, telling me they were getting phones unsolicited and every time that someone gets one of these cell phones registered, the federal government pays about ten bucks for the service and in recent years, this program has just gotten out of control. it's over a billion dollars. >> greta: i have a record that says federal government spent 2.2 billion to provide phones to low income americans. >> that's right, it continues to go up and waste, fraud and

abuse is throughout this program. so people getting 10, 20, 30, even 40 cell phones in my district, a television station interviewed one of my constituents who said on camera, well, i paid for one phone and i keep a free one as a backup, just in case. and so there's been a lot of -- there have been a lot of problems with this program, but beyond that, i think the issue is where do we draw the line? it would be great if everybody had an ipad. are we going to buy everyone with ipad. >> greta: some are worse than others, and i looked deeper and the federal communication commission, that's the government, said that 41% of the nearly 6 million people who get these phones don't meet the requirements. >> that's right. >> greta: which is to the tune, my assistant figured out $902 million a year we send to people who don't qualify, 902 million. >> and if you're wondering what the different lines are on the cell phones, fees and

what have you, one of those is a universal service fund. that's where the money comes from to fund this program. >> greta: all right, now, look, i mean, without even getting to whether it's a good program or a bad program, it's clear the 41% who don't qualify shouldn't be getting a phone. if you get a phone and you're not supposed to have it and you use it, i mean, you're essentially stealing. i mean, or you applied for one and lie on the application, saying you're below the federal poverty level. that's also a crime. >> sure. >> greta: we have all of this waste and fraud with $902 million a year and there's no-- there has been no effort to try to clean this one up. >> none, what my legislation does, it takes it back to the program's roots where it's landline only. if you're a shut-in and you need a landline, and provided

that to folks. and only expanded to cell phones six years ago and has gotten out of control. you would think we could save in that area to fund white house tours, don't you think? >> that's a whole other issue. i sit here night after night and see the incredible waste and fraud and scrambling to find 82 billion dollars and every night he we could find a billion sitting here if we just looked around. there doesn't seem to be anyone-- i'm glad you're doing this, but there isn't much aggressive search to clean up the waste in this government. >> what's been frustrating to me, to be frank with you, i thought this would be a no-brainer, i thought returning this program to the land line would be a no-brainer, but it's been a struggle to get co-sponsors. i've got about 28 now and, you know, i ask folks at home if your member of congress is not on my bill, please ask him to get on it because i think that

this issue was front and center for a little bit during the presidential campaign and it started to get some attention, but what i've said to folks, if we can't get things like this under control, how are we ever going to deal with a 16 trillion dollar debt? >> i don't know, i think probably-- >> it's disheartening. >> greta: i think most people agree we shouldn't be sending phones to dead people. i don't know, we could find a way to fight over that one. thank you. >> appreciate it very much. >> greta: and waste and fraud, have you hit your limit yet? if you list your opinion loud and often. go to gretawire.com with a special post and tell them what you think about waste and fraud. greta wire. and is the president the schmoozer in chief?

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what's with the outreach. one telling the national journal anonymously, this is a joke, the official saying it's all for the media. joining us our political panel, weekly standard steve hayes, washington post karen tumlety and byron york. karen your thoughts about the statement from the senior white house person. >> i think, we don't know who this anonymous person is, and i think it's a very good reporter. if he says it's a senior official, it's a senior official. often when somebody makes a comment to a reporter it's because there's been a debate inside the building and the person lost the argument. for the media, the president seems to be spending a lot of time doing it and he hasn't shown that much regard for us. >> greta: agreed? >> he could be laying a predicate. if you want to go to war with the other side you have to show everybody you've done everything you can to avoid doing a war and the

republicans i've talked with them, had dinner with them and negotiated, you just can't talk to them so now we'll have to kill them. if you're ready to go to war, it helps to appear to try to avoid it beforehand. that's where we could be. >> that's right. and the washington post had a terrific piece, a well-reported piece about the president's second term strategy and basically his strategy was to demonize republicans, and make them the villain, to portray them to the american people as ideolouings. >> and then the president is with a reaching out to the same people and insisting they can reach a grand bargain that he hasn't been interested before. >> greta: what happened in that week? >> i think the president has been hammered in the press by ron fournier and others. and i think he's the president

and needs to be leading and that and he's plummeting in the polls and this is what he's doing. >> he and he doesn't have the leverage in the fiscal cliff negotiations because they've done the taxes and the share of tax cuts and he no longer has that on the people. so his position wasn't as good as it was in december, as the white house will tell you. >> he lost on the sequester. i think he thought he could convince republicans, you can exploit this republican desire not to have these cuts and the sequester and get something out of that and republicans decided, hey, this thing is already law, we've won this thing if we do nothing so the president lost on it. >> greta: does he seem interested and engaged? >> it's hard to tell. i mean, unless you're sitting in the room with him, it's hard to tell. i interviewed several of the republicans who went to dinner with them and said if they're skeptical in actually achieving some kind after grand bargain, i think a lot

of them thought it was for show. they said he seemed sincere in the way he laid out his plans and assessed the problem. i myself am cynical. i don't think we've seen from this president in reducing debt or deficit, unless it's part of a campaign. >> greta: i tend to be cynical, too, because i've been around this town a long time on the other hand, we've been pounding him, why doesn't he reach out to the people and why doesn't he go to capitol hill and finally he does it we all jump him and say what's his problem? it's a horrible plan that he has-- >> and most people, the country if you asked them, do you want the people in washington to talk to each other or not? they would say yes, this is the country sees washington as essentially breaking down and they do want to see people at least making the effort to talk to each other. >> greta: and which is the point and asked senator kelly ayotte and the senate budget committee, and i'm sure on the house side, too, it's coming up with the senate budget committee and the republicans haven't seen it, they're not a part of the process and phony

to suggest that any of this is bipartisan. when you're in the minority, you're excluded and nobody talks to you. >> what goes on inside the capitol is one thing and between the capitol and white house is another thing. the republicans at dinner with the president said at absolute minimum, the benefit is, if he didn't completely understand the depth and sincerity of our beliefs before this dinner, well, he does now, so there's some minimal benefit to seeing each other face-to-face. >> and it's always been much more of a political than a substantive documents. the list of aspirations and hearing paul ryan saying in his budget, we repeal obamacare. and the spending bill, the negotiations on the continuing resolution to keep the government funding, those are the real genuine substantive issues. >> but there's another reason to be cynical here. it's not just that we've been sitting here and others have the outside have been encouraging the president to engage republicans, as that has been happening the white

house has stepped back and refusal to engage republicans and the white house officials backgrounding reporters and saying, no, no, it's worthless, it won't do us any good. all of a sudden there was this turn on a dime and the president started engaging republicans and you can see why some reporters who have been friendly to the white house have been cynical. >> remember the first months of his presidency and his first term, i won, and sort of drew a line in the sand and sort of right there alienated republicans who might have been willing to talk to them. >> there's an inside-outside game going on here, too, tomorrow in washington the president speaking to organizing for america. his political operation that's all about putting political pressure. so, i think he's essentially, too, trying to keep republicans kind of off balance. >> the republicans are saying whether the american people did it purposely or not, there is divided government now and they've been saying to the president look, you've got to

actually live with this and maybe it's the first sign he's coming around. >> greta: that's sort of the job. every president usually has a divided government. often has a divided government and that's sort of the job of leadership. >> and he accomplished his biggest goals when 255 democrats in the house and 60 in the senate, it's entirely different. >> greta: that's his job. he now has to deal with that. >> i would argue if you use that as the example. look how he handled the aftermath of the 2010 mid term elections when republicans did very well. the president didn't turn toward the middle as many people expected that he would. he sort of doubled down and turned back toward the left. this is the way that the post reported and others, suggested that the president was once again, going to turn to the left, was going to return in effect, a base democratic, left-leaning campaign for 2014 and try to take the house. that's what, that's what all the reporting suggests and that's what the president's actionses suggest. i think we're overthinking if we think he's doing anything other than that. >> greta: panel, nice to see all of you.

coming up the anti-bloomberg bill. it's one state's attempt to keep the government from telling you what to eat and drink. and in two minutes, iranian ahmadinejad in a shocking photo and now he's in hot water. and we'll show you this picture. that's minutes away. i bought the last one. nice try. says right here you can get one for $199 a month. you can't believe the lame-stream media, gary. they're all gone. maybe i'll get one. [ male announcer ] now everyone's going to want one. you can't have the same car as me, gary! i'm gettin' one. nope! [ male announcer ] volkswagen springtoberfest is here and there's no better time to get a passat. that's the power of german engineering. right now lease one of four volkswagen models for under $200 a month. visit vwdealer.com today.

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and these come together, one thing you can depend on is that these will come together. delicious and wholesome. some combinations were just meant to be. tomato soup from campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. >> tonight iranian president ahmadinejad sparking outrage, not for the usual reasons. this time the iranian president was caught on camera in what some call a sinful picture. hugging the mother of the late venezuelan president chavez. it was taken in caracas. conservative clerics say his behavior was forbidden. according to the rules muslim men are the not allowed to touch women outside of their own families so he's in trouble for hugging chavez's mother, but reports that the criticism is politically

motivat motivated. and they have an election coming up in june. what do you think, real outrage or political ploy? go to gretawire.com and tell us. we're back in two minutes. [ male announcer ] it's simple physics... a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. celebrex can be taken with or without food. and it's not a narcotic. you and your doctor should balance the benefits with the risks. all prescription nsaids, like celebrex, ibuprofen, naproxen and meloxicam have the same cardiovascular warning.

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yeah. this is basically just as fast. oh. and verizon's got more fast lte coverage than all other networks combined. oh, why didn't you just say that? huh-- what is he doing? >> new york, look out. mississippi is watching you and some don't like what they saw. they heard about mayor bloomberg's sugary drink ban, now of course by a judge and mississippi lawmakers were not impressed so they pass the anti-bloomberg bill. what is that? well, mississippi state senator tony smith joins us. good evening, sir. >> thank you greta for having me. >> what is the bill you're passing or tell me exactly what it is? >> well, actually senate bill 2687 simply states that the mississippi legislature will retain control when it comes to food regulations across our state. we don't want a hodgepodge of different rules and

regulations that are spread out across our state and you have all of these different municipalities doing their own thing and we think it needs to be consistent state wide. >> greta: were there any sort of efforts to pass a law in some community in mississippi that in any way was remotely like what mayor bloomberg wants to do in new york? >> happening in new york and like might be best to be preemptive. and so, we came up with this bill, also, melanie sojornor helped me co-author this. and-- >> i'm not familiar with the balance of power within your state. do you have both house and senate are republican? >> say that one more time, greta, i'm sorry the connection is-- >> i'm not familiar with the balance of power in your

state. what party in the different legislative branches. >> the republicans control all the branches at this time. in the senate this bill passed 50-1 and in the house, it was a 92-26 vote. so, overwhelmingly, the majority of the legislators thought this was a good bill. >> is this now sitting on the governor's desk or has the governor signed it? >> it's sitting on his desk and he's reviewing it, my understanding, so we're very confident that he will sign this. >> tell me, in terms of this bill, was it heavily lobbied by-- by business people? >> was mainly with the pro business entities. you know, the farm bureau association, the mississippi hospitality and restaurant association, the poultry association. and they had concerns about this bill and to be honest with you, we didn't hear much push-back on this. >> greta: have you heard from

any other legislators in other states wanting to copy your bill? >> i have not at this time. i will say to date it's been a crazy media day. we've heard from media outlets all over the united states. >> greta: well, i think everybody's been watching it because people were certainly were consumed with what happened in new york state with the mayor. so i think they're very interested in what were you doing in mississippi. >> we think it's very important that government does not reach down into the -- the lives of our people. you know, let business people operate their businesses, i'm a small restaurant owner and you know, the last thing i need is another regulation that would mandate to what i can serve or not serve. we currently answer to the mississippi department of health. the department of agriculture and commerce. you know, usda is involved and f.d.a., so we have a safe food supply and we just feel like it's not a place for the government to reach into. >> senator, thank you, sir. >> thank you, greta.

>> and what do you think about the government rules on foods and drinks? is it time, is it the government's job, rather, to watch your waistline or the government has gone wild? go to gretawire.com and tell us. straight ahead, don't spend your tax refund, at least not yet. here is bad news, more than 600,000 people will see delays in getting their money. are you one of them? that's next. wife takes centr. i've been on the fence about it. then i read an article about a study that looked at the long term health benefits of taking multivitamins. they used centrum silver for the study... so i guess my wife was right. [ male announcer ] centrum. always your most complete.

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>> okay, it's time to hash it out. if you thought taxes couldn't get more painful, brace yourself. and market watch, h & r block, miscued delayed 600,000 tax refunds. that's right the largest tax preparer blaming a software glitch for bundling thousands of returns. and returns that claimed educational credits. 600,000 people will be waiting an extra six weeks to get their money back from uncle sam. another member of bush family, george prescott bush, grandson of president bush. and announcing his bid for texas land commissioner and releasing a video on youtube and tells which famous family member inspired his run for office. >> you probably know her as former first lady barbara bush, but to me she's just

ghani, and what she taught me the importance of public service. >> greta: right now he's a lawyer in fort worth, texas. and this time hollywood is a target, the associated press tweeting iran considers lawsuit against hollywood over oscar winning movie "argo" focusing on the rescue of six embassy workers held hostage in iran. they're furious over the unrealistic portrayal of their country. no one knows what court iran would go to to plead its case. and talk about sinking your putt. golfer swallowed by 18 foot sinkhole in illinois. and check out the picture. this is what it looked like while the golfer plummeted into the earth. and the friend found a rope and he dislocated his shoulder and told reporters it was a downer. and check out the video out of california hundreds of bikers blocking a highway so one man could propose marriage to his

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